Moortidevi Award
· Noted Bengali poet Joy Goswami will be given the 31st Moortidevi Award for the year 2017 for his poetry collection titled 'Du Dondo Phowara Matro.' It is the first time the award will be given to a Bengali poet.
· "Du Dondo Phowara Matro" is an autobiographical account of the poet's life featuring his close ones including a pet cat.
Vyas Samman
· Eminent Hindi writer Mamta Kalia of Uttar Pradesh will be honored with literary award Vyas Samman for the year 2017 for her novel "Dukkham Sukkham".
· Kalia is known for her works in Hindi and English including "Beghar", "Janch AbhiJaari Hai". "Nirmohi", and "Bolne Wali Aurat"
R Hemalatha: R Hemalatha has been appointed as the new Director of the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), Hyderabad.
Dia Mirza: Cine actor Dia Mirza, has been appointed as UN Environment's Goodwill Ambassador for India
Justice U.D. Salvi
· Justice Umesh Dattatraya Salvi took charge as acting chairperson of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), a day after Justice Swatanter Kumar retired.
Vijay Rupani: Vijay Rupani has been appointed as the Chief Minister of Gujarat for the second consecutive term. Nitin Patel was given the post of Deputy CM.
Jai Ram Thakur: Jai Ram Thakur has been sworn in as the new Chief Minister of 13th legislative assembly of Himachal Pradesh. He replaced Virbhadra Singh.
11th WTO Conference
· The 11th biennial ministerial conference of the World Trade Organisation was held in Buenos Aries, Argentina. It was chaired by Minister Susana Malcorra of Argentina.
India to Host Meeting of WTO Member Countries
· India will host meeting of WTO member countries in February to master support for food security and other issues.
SCO Summit Sochi, Russia
· The latest Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit was held in Sochi, Russia
· SCO is an inter-governmental organisation founded by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in 2001 in a bid to promote multilateral cooperation in the fields of security, economy and culture.
· The SCO has eight full members-India, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan- and six dialogue partners and four observers.
· Earlier in June 2017, at the 17th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), Summit held in Kazakhstan capital Astana, India and Pakistan were accorded full membership.
One Planet Summit
· The One Planet Summit was organised in Paris, France, that discussed climate monitoring from space, including such areas as greenhouse gases, water resource management and the use of satellites during natural disaster.
· In progress to set up a Space Climate Observatory that will act as a hub between space agencies and the international scientific community.
Indian Science Congress
· The 2018 edition of the Indian Science Congress will be held at Manipur University, Imphal, in March.
· The event was scheduled at the Osmania University (OU), Hyderabad, in the first week of January but had to be moved out due to "security problems".
Alappuzha
· Alappuzha- often called "the Venice of East"- a coastal city in Kerala has been recognized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as one of the five models across the world (Clean City) for fighting the pollution.
Kacheguda
· Kacheguda railway Station under the South-Central Railway (SCR) has earned the unique distinction of being the first Energy Efficient 'A1 Category' Railway Station on Indian Railways.
· Kacheguda railway Station is a historic building and had completed 100 years. Situated in the heart of Hyderabad, it was built in 1916 by the Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway during the reign of Mir Osman Ali Khan, the seventh Nizam.
Tuirial Hydro Electric Power Project
· The 60 MW Tuirial Hydro Electric Power Project (HEPP) in Mizoram has been inaugurated.
· Kerala Tourism is launching a Geographic Information System (GIS)-based inventory of around 1000 festivals in the State. These will be promoted as tourist attractions.
WHO Certifies Gabon as Polio-Free
· The World health Organisation has declared Gabon a "Polio-free country".
· Now the disease is endemic only in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
· India was declared polio-free in 2014.
Hokersar Wetland
Hokersar Wetland is located on the outskirts of Srinagar in Jammu & Kashmir.
Udvada Festival
Iranshah Udvada Utsav is a three-day festival held recently in Udvada, a town in Gujarat. The festival was witness to nearly 2000 Parsis from across the world.
IOC Bans Russia from Winter Olympics 2018
· Russia has been banned from competing at next year's Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea by the International Olympic Committee.
· It follows an investigation into allegations of state-sponsored doping at the 2014 Games hosted by Russia in Sochi.
· IOC will invite Russian clean athletes to compete under the name 'Olympic Athlete from Russia' (OAR).
· China's first dam on the main upper reaches of the Brahmaputra was built at Zangmu.
· Three more dams at Dagu, Jiacha, and Jeixu (small-scale projects) are under construction.
· In 2015, China inaugurated the Zam Hydropower Station, largest in Tibet,the highest dam built on Brahmaputra.
Triple Talaq Bill
The Lok Sabha on December 28 passed by voice vote the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill 2017 that makes instant triple talaq of talaq-e-biddat a criminal offence, with a jail term of up to three years.
Need for the Bill: The object statement of the Triple Talaq Bill states that the Supreme Court's recent judgment has had no deterrent effect and therefore, a Bill criminalizing instant triple talaq or talaq-e-biddat was required.
Salient Feature of the Bill
· The Bill makes all declaration of talaq, including in written or electronic form, to be void (i.e. enforceable in law) and illegal.
· It defines talaq as talaq-e-biddat or any other similar form of talaq pronounced by a Muslim man resulting in instant and irrevocable divorce.
· Talaq-e-biddat refers to the practice under Muslim personal Laws where pronouncement of the word 'talaq' thrice in one sitting by a Muslim man to his wife results in an instant and irrevocable divorce.
Offence and Penalty
· The Bill makes declaration of talaq a cognizable and non-bailable offence.
· A cognizable offence is one for which a police officer may arrest an accused person without warrant.
· A husband declaring talaq can be imprisoned for up to three years along with a fine.
Shah Bano Act
· The recent bill has ameded the Shah Bano Act.
· Commonly known as the Shah Bano Act, The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986 was enacted by the Rajiv Gandhi government under pressure from the Muslim clergy to overturn the Supreme Court ruling in the Shah Bano case.
India's First Social Audit Law
Meghalaya on December 15 became the first state in India to operationalise a law that makes social audit of government programmes and schemes a part of government practice. The State Government launched 'The Meghalaya Community Participation and Public Services Social Audit Act, 2017', at a national convention in Shillong.
· Arunachal Pradesh emerged as the second state in Northeast, after Sikkim, to be declared Open Defecation Free.
Chabahar Port: A Game Changer
· The first phase of Iran's Chabahar port, which holds significant strategic and economic importance for India, was launched in December 2017.
· India, Iran and Afghanistan have signed an agreement to grant preferential treatment and tariff reductions at Chabahar to Indian goods headed toward Central Asian and Afghanistan.
Methanol Economy Fund
About Methanol
· Methanol (CH3OH) is a single carbon compound which can be produced from coal, natural gas, biomass (i.e. products which are capable of producing syngas), whereas DME (CH3OCH3) which is the simplest ether compound can be produced from methanol or directly from gases.
· It can be produced from natural gas, Indian high ash coal, bio-mass, and stranded and flared gases.
· Methanol is an efficient fuel (octane number 100) and emits lesser Nox and Particulate matter (PM) than gasoline and produces no Sox as there is no sulphur in ethanol.
· The Ministry of Communications on December 21 launched DARPAN-"Digital Advancement of Rural Post Office for A New India" Project to improve the quality of service, add value to services and achieve "financial inclusion" on un-banked rural population.
· The Project shall increase the rural reach of the Department of Posts and enable BOs to increase traffic of all financial remittances, savings accounts, Rural Postal Life Insurance, and Cash Certificates
World Soil Day
· World Soil Day is celebrated annually on the 5th of December at the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) headquarters in Rome and across the world.
· 2017 Theme: 'Caring for the Planet starts from the Ground'.
ISA Becomes a Treaty-based Organisation
In terms of its Framework Agreement, with ratification by Guinea as the 15th country on 6th November 2017, the International Solar Alliance (ISA) became a treaty-based international intergovernmental organization ob 6th December 2017.
About ISA
· The ISA, headquartered in India, has its Secretariat located in the campus of National institute of Solar Energy, Gwalpahari, Gurgaon, Haryana.
· The ISA is an Indian initiative, jointly launched by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi and the President of France on 30th November 2015 in Paris, on the sidelines of COP-21, the UN Climate Conference.
Ganga Gram Project Launched
The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MDWS) on December 23 launched 'Ganga Gram' – a project for sanitation based integrated development of all 4470 villages along the River Ganga.
Highlights
· Ganga Gram vision is an integrated approach for holistic development of villages situated on the banks of River Ganga with active participation of the villagers.
· Ug99 or a strain of fungus Puccinia graminis tritici (Pgt) has been causing a wide damage to wheat crop across the world.
· Scientist has now gained gene-level insights into how this deadly fungus attacks the cereal crop.
Saraswati
A group of Indian astronomers have discovered a massive supercluster of galaxies which is only the third known supercluster.
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